A collection of essays on hearing loss by an Aberystwyth University creative writing student has been hailed the winner of an award hosted by literary magazine New Welsh Review.

Fiction as a Hearing Aid by Ed Garland, expertly examines how literature can provide comfort and clarification to those with hearing difficulties.

Ed, who is currently studying for an MA in Creative Writing at the Department of English and Creative Writing, was announced as the winner of the New Welsh Writing Awards 2018: Aberystwyth University Prize for an Essay Collection at the Hay Festival.

The prize comprises a £1,000 advance on an ebook deal, published under the magazine’s book imprint New Welsh Rarebyte, together with a critique by London literary agent and Awards partner Cathryn Summerhayes of Curtis Brown.

The themes highlighted in Ed’s essays have also been set in a short animated film by Aberystwyth University graduate Emily Roberts.

The New Welsh Writing Awards, unique to the annual writing prize calendar in its championing of long-form writing, celebrated the essay collection form this year.

Since its inception in 2015, the annual awards have received well over 200 entries; the winner in 2015, Eluned Gramich who won with Woman Who Brings the Rain, went on to be shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year in 2016.

This year, New Welsh Revieweditor Gwen Davies judged entries with the help of students from Aberystwyth University.

Gwen Davies said of Ed Garland’s winning collection of essays that it is “an intelligent, rigorous, personal, humorous and compelling presentation of words as soundscape.”

Ed Garland’s success builds on a successful week for the Department of English and Creative Writing which has been rated second in the UK for student satisfaction with teaching and feedback in the 2019 Guardian University Guide published on Tuesday 29 May.

Dr Louise Marshall, Head of the Department of English and Creative Writing said: “The Department are absolutely delighted for Ed and we are incredibly proud of his well-deserved success. Ed’s work is at the cutting-edge of research in the humanities and his creative writing demonstrates his incredible prowess, poise, and reflective thinking.”

“Ed joins a growing cohort of award-winning Aberystwyth Creative Writing students whose successes demonstrate the quality, originality, and glittering brilliance of their writing across a broad range of genres and forms. We wish Ed every success for his future and heartily congratulate him on this prestigious award.”

Second place was awarded to Alex Diggins from Bristol for Sea Change: An Argument in Six Parts, and third to Nicholas Murray from Presteigne for Writing and Engagement.

All three shortlisted entries will be published in extract form in the autumn issue of New Welsh Reader 118 to be published on 1 September 2018.

Ed Garland
Ed Garland is a part-time student on the MA in Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University.

His writing has appeared in Anticmagazine, A Glimpse Of, and various collaborations with the illustrator Inkymole.

He is from Greater Manchester, and lived in Leicester and Bristol before moving to Aberystwyth with his wife, Helena, in 2016.

He was awarded a BSc in Music Technology from DeMontfort University in 2005.

He works as a copywriter and has worked as a court clerk, a climbing instructor, a poster seller, and many other things.

New Welsh Review:

New Welsh Review was founded in 1988 as the successor to The Welsh Review (1939- 1948), Dock Leaves and The Anglo-Welsh Review (1949-1987) and is Wales’s foremost literary magazine in English, offering a vital outlet for the very best new fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry, a forum for critical debate, and a rigorous and engaged reviewing culture.

New Welsh Review Ltd is supported through core funding by the Welsh Books Council and hosted by Aberystwyth University Department of English and Creative Writing. The magazine’s creative content was rebranded as New Welsh Reader in 2015, with reviews moving entirely online.

Photo: Ed Garland, winner of the New Welsh Writing Awards 2018: Aberystwyth University Prize for an Essay Collection

Links:
New Welsh Writing Awards
http://www.newwelshwritingawards.com/

New Welsh Review
https://www.newwelshreview.com/

Department of English and Creative Writing
https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/english/

There will be a new face in the strength and conditioning team that welcomes the squad back for pre-season training at Llandarcy next month after the appointment of Simon Church.

Church joins the Ospreys after spending five years at the Dragons and will work with the senior squad at the Region.

The UWIC Masters graduate once again links up with Alex Lawson, Head of S&C at the Ospreys, who first appointed him when in the same role at Rodney Parade.

Speaking about the appointment, Lawson commented:

“I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Simon to the Ospreys, he will be a fantastic asset to the business.

“I first had the pleasure of meeting Simon during an interview for an internship position at the Dragons, when he immediately struck me as a very self assured and capable young man. Although he was only 21 years of age at the time he was a stand out applicant and quickly established himself in professional rugby as a quality young coach and an innovative thinker.

“ He has a real passion for developing athletes. He is always striving to improve his own knowledge and performance, both through his own research and also by learning from others, and is willing to experiment with his own training and programming to keep players engaged. He has a hard working approach and a creative mind that will support the players as they strive for elite performance and can really make a difference.”

Church said he is looking forward to linking up with the Ospreys in June:

“When the opportunity to join the Ospreys was presented to me it was one I couldn’t say no to. I’m really excited about working with the squad being put together for next season and helping to deliver what Allen Clarke wants from the squad performance wise.

“There’s a very strong strength and conditioning set-up in place, led by Alex Lawson, and I’m looking forward to working closely with the team over the coming months and seasons.”

Hats off to the team at Wales Wildlife Watch for their hard work in tackling a problem highlighted by this blog earlier this week.

Vandals and open-air drinkers have set fires in the woodland at Sandy Water Park (Coed Cefn Padrig) and left a pile of rubbish (empty drinks bottles, packaging, food and clothes) at a number of locations.

Veronica Haines, from Wales Wildlife Watch, explains –

“Ten of us tackled Sandy Water Park and surrounding areas this morning, but unfortunately there was so much litter in the woods we could not clear it all.

“We found four sites of fires with litter all around including a lot of glass bottles,many of which had been smashed.

“This means large areas were strewn with broken glass posing a hazard particularly to children and dogs.

“We will be back in three months, but, hopefully, other local people will be able to finish the job.

“We understand the police are regularly patrolling this area but clearly it is an ongoing problem, especially coming up to the end of the school year.

“Nobody minds kids having fun and building camps in the woods as long as they do no damage and TAKE THEIR LITTER HOME!

“Between us we picked up five large bags of recycling, six of general rubbish, two bags of bottles, a pile of smelly bedding, an umbrella and a pair of flip-flops!”

Internet link to Facebook page for Wales Wildlife Watch –

https://www.facebook.com/waleswildlifewatch/?hc_ref=ARSgSmlXgXn3hunCyrR15xBpWfoQQLKghXAXyP6SGJHsA6kPT6RMsspnKneDquFqij4&fref=nf

Link to Wales Wildlife Watch web page –

www.waleswildlifewatch.org.uk

Link to earlier blog story about the woodland damage at Sandy Water Park –

Accident waiting to happen at Sandy Water Park woods

Council officers are pulling out all the stops to uncover the source of a fly problem in parts of Llanelli.

They have been working around the clock with outside organisations to try to identify the cause in and around the Llanelli area, following calls from the public.

Currently there are no works being carried out to the town’s sewerage system, with Dŵr Cymru’s on-going Rainscape investment work only focussing on the surface water system.

Environmental health officers will continue to monitor the area.

The council’s executive board member for public protection, Cllr Philip Hughes, said: “Working closely with a number of partner organisations, our officers are doing all they can to try to locate the source of the problem. This work is on-going.

“Having visited Dŵr Cymru’s RainScape site, our officers are satisfied that the fly problem is not related to this work. Please be assured we are doing everything we can and will continue to monitor the area.”

If you have specific information that might help the council with its enquiries, please send details to publicprotection@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

Welcoming the findings of a new report, Swansea Bay City Deal leaders say a number of major planned developments will soon combine to help Wales cut its carbon footprint.

Forming part of the Re-Energising Wales project being led by the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA), the new report has found that the Swansea Bay City Region is well-placed to act as a pathfinder for plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across Wales by 80% in coming decades.

Praising the City Region’s ambition and leadership, the report also says Swansea Bay – which is made up of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot – has the potential to meet all its electricity consumption needs from renewable energy sources by 2035.

Subject to the approval of a business case, a Homes as Power Stations project is among those included in the £1.3bn Swansea Bay City Deal, which is being funded by the UK Government, the Welsh Government, the public sector and the private sector.

Set for introduction across the City Region, the project will see technology introduced that will allow homes and buildings to generate, store and release their own energy.

Also due to be part-funded by the City Deal, subject to the approval of a business case, is the Pembroke Dock Marine project, which will include a demonstration zone for innovative wave energy devices off the coast of Pembrokeshire.

Cllr Rob Stewart, Lead Leader for the Swansea Bay City Region, said: “We very much welcome the IWA’s report and the recognition it gives to the leadership and ambition across Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot and Pembrokeshire to make Swansea Bay an example of best practice for renewable energy consumption.

“A focus on renewable energy will cut our carbon footprint, help local people save money on their fuel bills and generate thousands of new jobs as we look to develop and test green energy technology in coming years.

“Renewable energy is a key theme of the Swansea Bay City Deal, which is projected to boost the regional economy by £1.8 billion and create close to 10,000 new, high-quality jobs in the next 15 years.

“As well as the Homes as Power Stations and Pembroke Dock Martine projects, we’re also still hopeful of UK Government approval for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.

“These projects would combine to further raise Swansea Bay’s profile across the world as an innovative, forward-thinking region, which could also lead to lucrative export opportunities overseas for local companies.

“We look forward to working with the IWA to explore now we can best put some of the report’s vision into practice.”

The IWA report also highlights the opportunity for Swansea Bay to become a leading region for the reduction of vehicle emissions, with a target of 80% of new cars and 30% of all cars to be electric by 2035.

Cllr Stewart said: “A number of regional councils, universities, health boards and other local employers have already taken the lead by introducing more electric vehicles in their fleets, but we want the public to follow suit in their thousands.

“That’s why discussions with electric vehicle manufacturers are ongoing, as well as a regional study that will see more electric vehicle charging points installed across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.  While encouraging the use of zero-carbon, sustainable transport, it’s also vitally important that the infrastructure is in place to support it.

“We stand ready in Swansea Bay to help inform a nationwide drive that will lead to a greener Wales than ever before.”

League table climb continues for Aberystwyth University

Aberystwyth University’s progress in university league tables continues with the publication of the 2019 edition of The Guardian University Guide.

Aberystwyth University is this year’s highest climber, up 36 places into the top 50 in the UK, and second position in Wales.

Placed 45^th out of 121 higher education institutions across the UK, Aberystwyth equals its best performance in The Guardian’s university league table since 2009.

The latest league table also puts Aberystwyth in the following rankings:

• 2^ndin the UK for student satisfaction
• 3rd in the UK for satisfaction with feedback
• 6^thin the UK for satisfaction with teaching

At individual subject level, there are top ten positions for Agriculture and Forestry (9^th), Art and Design (6^th) and Modern Languages (8^th).

Professor Elizabeth Treasure, Vice-Chancellor at Aberystwyth University said: “The GuardianUniversity Guide focuses on the factors that are most important to students when it comes to choosing the best course for them and where to study.

“That Aberystwyth scores highly in these areas is a reflection of the emphasis we place here on teaching excellence. Academic rigour, timely relevant feedback, research-led teaching and lecturers who know their students are all hallmarks of our degree courses. The overall student experience is further enriched by our unique, seaside location, our students’ union clubs and societies, and our welcoming, supportive community.”

The latest results build on Aberystwyth’s continued league table success over the past 12 months.

In August 2017 Aberystwyth was rated best in Wales and one of the best higher education institutions in the UK in the National Student Survey (NSS) with overall student satisfaction at 91%.

In September 2017, Aberystwyth University was named University of the Year for Teaching Quality by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018. The guide also saw Aberystwyth’s progress continue, climbing nine places into the top 50 universities in the UK.

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guideeditor Alastair McCall said at the time that Aberystwyth had “secured some of the most remarkable scores in the UK from students for the quality of teaching it offers”.

The Guardian university league table is based on nine measures: Satisfied with course, Satisfied with teaching, Satisfied with feedback, Student to staff ratio, Spend per student, Average entry tariff, Value added score and Career after 6 months.

New to the table this year is the addition of the student continuation metric, which provides the percentage of students who progress from the first year into the second and which gives an indication of how well universities are supporting their students.

Further information about The Guardianuniversity guide for 2019 is available online at www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2018/may/29/university-league-tables-2019.

Link:
The Guardian University Guide 2019
https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2018/may/29/university-league-tables-2019